The Information Chase: Get What You Need to Write Winning Grants

If you have written even one grant, you know the feeling. The deadline is looming, your proposal is half-finished, and you’re still missing the vital bits of information for the budget, or the objectives, or the evaluation, or anything in between.

The truth is, everybody wants grant funding, but unless they have direct experience writing grants, they rarely understand what it takes to get there. Thus, the ghosting on a deadline. It’s not malicious. Most folks have no idea what goes into a competitive grant proposal: the narratives, the outcome data, the budget narratives, the letters of support.

That’s why I continue to say that the job title “grant writer,” or any iteration of that, is a misnomer. I spend far more time consolidating priorities, chasing down needed data and documents, and building consensus on a budget or outcomes than actual writing.

Amanda and I tackle this all-too-familiar frustration and how to resolve it in our most recent episode of the Fundraising HayDay podcast, but here are some quick ideas that can help you beat that grant deadline panic.

Tips for Getting the Information You Need

• Build a living grant library. Maintain shared folders with documents that contain the most commonly requested elements of grant proposals, such as organizational history, program descriptions, staff bios, financials, outcome data, and client/community stories. Be sure to update them at least once a year. Don’t wait until a deadline is breathing down your neck.
• Meet people where they are. Some colleagues are great with email; some need to talk it out in person or on a video call; some need a face-to-face meeting away from the constant demands of their office. Ask them and change your communication style and method to accommodate them. It makes everything so much easier.
• Explain the “why,” not just the deadline. For those colleagues who can’t or won’t take an internal deadline and run with it, give them the context to understand the urgency. For example: “We need your Q3 attendance data so we can secure another year of funding for your after-school program” can help a stressed program coordinator more than a terse “I need this by Tuesday.”
• Give internal deadlines with built-in wiggle room. I rarely share the actual grant deadline with information sources. People (me included) tend to wait until the last minute.
• Document everything. Keep a record of who responded and who didn’t and note where incomplete information forced you to submit a weaker proposal. This documentation serves as your evidence if you ever need to escalate the discussion to a department head, a board, or other leadership to streamline the grant development process.
• Recognize your contributors publicly. Make a point to recognize the folks who contributed information, data, and any piece of the grant proposal once it goes out. A quick group text, email, post, or mention during a staff meeting builds goodwill and can help foster an environment where people want to be part of the grant team.

Grant writing is not a solo sport. The most technically polished proposal in the world won’t get funded if the subject matter experts never gave you the real story. Getting this right benefits you AND the communities your organization serves.